Ukraine's Jewish residents have lately been the target of a wild anti-Semitic campaign launched by Sergey Kirichenko, member of the Kherson City Council and a former parliament member.

Kirichenko has accused Jews of taking over the country and striving to wipe out the Slavic race. "The Jews are occupiers, they have occupied us, they stole all our wealth and control us… they create terms that will enable genocide of the Slavic people," Kirichenko claimed in a recent interview.

He further said that, "Like in Gaza, where they kill women and children, they are destroying the Slavic people from within."

On other occasions, Kirichenko proclaimed that "the Jews are the only one getting rich while everybody else is suffering… this is the reason why we live so poorly in Kherson, why we are being ripped off every day,wy we have no peace… the Jews think that the Ukrainians are an inferior race that is meant to serve them, which is why they perpetrate crimes no other nation would dare to do."

The politician has also defined "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" "historical documents."

Kirichenko's statements have outraged the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE)h urged the Ukrainian authorities to put Kirichenko on trial and promote legislation banning similar expressions.

The RCE, which last year called on France to suspend any cooperation with Ukraine until it curbs anti-Semitism in the country, estimated that Kirichenko's anti-Jewish campaign was part of his bid to replace Kherson's present Jewish mayor.

The Centre called on Ukrainian authorities to denounce Kirichenko and press charges against him for inciting hatred. "It would be imprudent to disregard those comments. The Ukrainian government must pass a law barring such narrow-mindedness, like most other European states," the RCE said in a statement.